The Washington critic., 1887-02-25
TOPICS OF THE DAY.

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man, occasionally INDUCED In the fas.
cinating game called draw poker,
game which we know is thoroughly
understood In all It's details In Clinton
County, No., more especially Lathrop.
Well, once on time Vest had tried
case In little county seat, and re-
ceived large fec for clearing his man.
30 much money In the hands Of the
young lawyer was as tempting to the
denizens as cool watermelon to a
hungry negro. The result was a game
Of poker was gotten up. The boys In.
tended 10 fleece Vest, and Of course
stocked the cards. They had no place
to play in but little shed that had no
floor but some fresh dry wheat straw.
1t was a five.handed game, and dry
goods box served as a table. 1t hap.
pened to be jack pot, and Vest opened
1t on three queens. The cards being
fixed, the other fellows had better
hands, and OF course raised before
the draw. Vest stood the raise
and drew two cards. As luck
would have 1t. he got the other
queen. The betting commenced aud
grew exceedingly warm. They would
raise the young lawyer and he would
see them and 60 a little better. An
outsider, who stood In with the gang,
looked over Vests shoulder and saw
what formidable hand he had. He
held up four fingers, shook his head,
and In other ways tried to warn his
friends. But TO no purpose. He saw
that Vest would break the crowd, so he
III match and set the straw floor on
fire and told them to run for dear life.
That cool head which serves him so
well now. and which never let's him be-
come ratified. did not desert him then.
With one hand he raked In the Doodle,
with the other he exhibited his lovely
queens, and as he went out of the door,
with his coat. tail on fire, he said: "Let
her burn; the pot Is mine"
-
Says Ben: Perley Poore In the Omaha
Republican: The inner circles of what
may be called the Presidential society
have always been the subject Of much
comment and gossip among what may
be termed the outer circles, thus: Mrs.
Abigail Adams, wife of Vice. President
John Adams, wrote as follows of Mrs.
Washington "She endears herself
to all, not by what she Is, so much as
by what she is not, and makes up by
cordially the shortcomings Of an early
education" In tuin, Mrs. Adams,
when her husband became President,
was commented upon as follows. in
enc of the private letters of the day !:
"She is prim, cold. and possesses too
much mind for the very little heart
that hardly seems to beat under her
1affeta gown" By the aristocracy of
Virginia Mrs. Madison was called "the
Quaker widow" and gentlemen were
too fond of her society,"" in the com.
mon parlance of the day. The man.
ners Of Mrs. Monroe were "too much
of the French school," and 1t was as.
serted that the niece of General
jackson, who presided over his house.
hold, "had no manners at ALL" Mrs.
Harrison left the White House before
her manners were developed, and while
the first wife Of John Tyler was "too
DID," the second was "too young"
Mrs. Polk wore "shawls and turban,"
as well as paste jewelry. Mrs. Taylor
"did not receive" Mrs. Fillmore
twas deaf" Mrs. Pierce, sad and
afflicted, "never laid Off her mourn.
Ing" Miss Lane was greatly admired
by all here. Mrs. Lincoln's love for
her husband covered multitude OF
SINS" But we are getting down among
persons living and must stop. Fifty
years from now, extracts from letters
will be published, giving q different
view of Mrs. Cleveland, from what Is
In the rose. colored sketches of the lady
correspondents.
A practical test was recently made
here of Mr.. Sumner Taintor's invention
called the graphophone and results
were highly satisfactory. The machine,
says Carpenter In the Cleveland Leader,
Is operated on the principle of the pho.
nrgraph. 1t Is very simple, and Is
free from mechanical complication. 1t
has treadle, and 1t looks very much
like small sewing machine. Edison
discovered the art of recording and re.
producing sound. but his Invention
could not be used because Of its clumsy
mechanical arrangement, coupled with
the very inferior and unsatisfactory
methods of recording the sounds pro-
duced. He used piece Of tin foil upon
which the sound waves were indented
and from which they were easily oblit.
Grated. The present inventor, Mr..
Taintor, saw that less destructiblc
material was required, and after, con.
siderable Experiment. tried a preparation
OF wax and parailine. This is the sur.
face now used, and II works perfectly
He then made an entirely new appara.
tus, and the result Is the graphophone,
machine which will sing Il song, re
port whistle, or give the quality and
infections OF the voice In II most
charming way. The small point
which Is attached to the diaphragm OF
the machine cuts minute hair line Ia
the wax surface. This line is so faint
that 1t is scarcely perceptible to the
naked eye, yet 1t serves TO give re.
production, so as to be distinctly heard
by the listener, of q song, laugh, OF
an ordinary speech Among those
present at The test were Mr.. Taintor
Professor Alex. Graham Bell, DE-.
Chichester A. Bell, Senator Fair. the
Hon. i. j. Colmau. Professor Melville
Bell. Mr.. Austin Herr. Mr.. Frank Ma
gulre, Mr.. Clepbauc, Mr.. Divine and
others. The test was very ilne one.
Two gentlemen, one acting as lawyer
and the other as witness, utilized the
graphophone for taking testimony.
These gentlemen spoke In ordinary
tones In the machine, one asking a
question and the other answering It.
A dozen questions and answers were
given. Then young lady, who had
not heard what either party hal said,
came into the room and took the testI.